^.     ".^     ^^'  nO. 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (f/.T-3) 


1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


IfilM 


I— 
22 


L^   1^    IIIIIIO 


1.4 


1.6 


Photographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  873-4503 


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lo 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notaa/Notaa  techniques  at  biblioaraphiques 


The  inttitute  hes  ettempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliogrephicelly  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


D 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


I     I    Covers  damaged/ 


D 


Couverture  endommagAe 

Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurAe  et/ou  peiiiculAe 


□   Cover  title  missing/ 
Le 


D 


n 


D 


titre  de  couverture  manque 


I     I   Coloured  maps/ 


Cartes  gAogrephiques  en  couleur 

Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 


rn   Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 


D 


Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  coule^^r 

Bound  with  other  material/ 
ReliA  avec  d'autres  documents 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  I  eliuro  serrie  peut  causer  dtt  I'ombre  ou  de  l9 
distortion  is  long  de  le  marge  ititArieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appeer  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certainec  pages  biar.xhefi  ajoutAes 
lors  d'una  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texts, 
mais.  lorsque  ceia  Atait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  AtA  filmAes. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  supplAmentaires: 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  AtA  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  dAtaiis 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-Atre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibllographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  mAthode  norrnale  de  filmage 
sont  indiqute  ci-dessous. 


I — I   Coloured  pages/ 


D 


Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagtes 

Pages  restored  and/oi 

Pages  restaurtes  et/ou  pelliculAes 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxei 
Pages  dAcolortes,  tachat^es  ou  piqutes 

Pages  detached/ 
Pages  dAtachAes 

Showthrough/ 
Transparence 

Quality  of  prir 

QuaiitA  inAgale  de  I'impresslon 

Includes  supplementary  materii 
Comprend  du  materiel  suppKmentaire 

Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Mition  disponible 


|~~|  Pages  damaged/ 

I — I  Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 

I — I  Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 

I     I  Pages  detached/ 

I     I  Showthrough/ 

|~~|  Quality  of  print  varies/ 

r~|  Includes  supplementary  material/ 

I — I  Only  edition  available/ 


Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  nn  fsuiilet  d'errata,  une  peiure, 
etc.,  ont  AtA  fiimAes  A  nouveau  de  fapon  A 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


Tl 
tc 


Tl 

P' 
o1 
fil 


O 
bi 
tt 
si 
ot 
fil 
si 

CI 


Tl 
si 

Tl 

di 
01 
b( 
"1 
r€ 


This  item  is  filmed  et  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  film*  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqu*  ci-dessous. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


26X 


XX 


/ 


12X 


16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


Th«  copy  filmad  h«r«  hat  b««n  r«produc«d  thanks 
to  tha  ganarosity  of: 

Library  Division 

Provincial  Archives  of  British  Columbia 


L'axamplaira  film*  fut  raproduit  o'ica  A  la 
gAnArotltA  da: 

Library  Division 

Provincial  Archives  of  British  Columbia 


Tha  imagaa  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  bast  quality 
possibia  considaring  tha  condition  and  lagibility 
of  tha  original  copy  and  in  kaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  spacifications. 


Las  imagas  suivantas  ont  At*  raproduitas  avac  la 
plus  grand  soin,  compta  tanu  da  la  condition  at 
da  la  nattat*  da  l'axamplaira  film*,  at  wn 
conformit*  avac  las  conditions  du  contrat  da 
filmaga. 


Original  copias  in  printad  papar  covars  ara  filmad 
baginning  with  tha  front  covar  and  anding  on 
tha  last  paga  with  a  printad  or  illustratad  impras- 
sion,  or  tha  back  covar  whan  appropriata.  All 
othar  original  copias  ara  filmad  baginning  on  tha 
first  paga  with  a  printad  or  illustratad  impras- 
sion,  and  anding  on  tha  last  paga  with  a  printad 
or  illustratad  imprassion. 


Tha  last  racordad  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  — »>  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED "),  or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 

Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrar«s  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  axamplairas  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprimAa  sont  filmAs  an  commenpant 
par  la  premier  plat  at  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
darnlAre  paga  qui  comporta  una  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration.  soit  par  la  second 
plat,  salon  la  cas.  Tous  las  autras  axamplairas 
originaux  sont  filmAs  en  commenpant  par  la 
premiAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  at  en  terminant  par 
la  darniAre  paga  qui  comporta  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaftra  sur  la 
derniAre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbole  — »•  signifie  "A  SUIVRE".  le 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN". 

Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  Atre 
filmAs  A  des  taux  de  reduction  diffArents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clichA.  il  est  film*  A  partir 
de  I'angle  sup6rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droite. 
et  de  haut  en  bas.  en  prenant  la  nombre 
d'images  nAcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mAthode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

ntto 


I 


f  , 


OUR    KNOWLEDGE 


OF 


mtUmm  and  tbe  itfttb-West  €mi 


ONE    HUNDUED    YIGARS    SINCE. 


BT 


HENRY  A.    HOMES,   a.m., 

Librnriaii,  N.  Y.  Hindi  Lihriiiy. 


'2^C>f 


CoUeetiorv 


OUR    KNOWLEDGE 


or 


€Mwnm  mA  tU  §ttttti-Wt»i  €0Ut 


ONE    HUNDRED    TEARS    SINCE. 


READ  BKFOItB 


THE    ALBANY    INSTITUTE, 


FEBUUAUy  15,  18TO, 


BT 


HENRY  A.   HOMES,  a.m., 

Librarian,  N.  Y.  State  Library. 


ALBANY,    N.    Y.: 
JOEL    MUNSELL 

1870. 


(Siiilifanua  and  tht  ^ovt\X'm»t  (Sioul 


Our  familiarity  of  late  years  with  the  geography,  the 
products  and  the  increasing  population  of  the  Western 
empire  of  the  United  States  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific, 
makes  the  reflection  seem  the  more  astonishing  that  a  cen- 
tury since,  this  coast  was  unknown  and  had  hardly  been 
touched  <jy  the  foot  of  an  European. 

It  is  evident  from  the  history  of  geographical  discovery 
that  a  century  since,  California,  Oregon,  Washington  ter- 
ritory and  British  Columbia  were  both  in  their  coasts  and 
their  interior  almost  absolutely  unknown.  At  that  time 
the  name  of  California  was  given  to  all  the  coast  that 
stretched  north  of  the  peninsula  on  the  maps.  More  than 
two  hundred  and  eighty  years  had  elapsed  from  the  date 
of  the  discovery  of  America,  from  1492  to  1769,  before 
the  mere  outline  of  its  north-west  coast  had  been  traced 
by  Europeans.  From  the  date  of  the  discovery  of  Mon- 
terey, latitude  36°  40',  and  of  Cape  Blanc  in  latitude 
43°,  by  Sebastien  Viscayno  (Biscaien)  in  1602,  for  a  period 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  years,  not  a  new  point  was  made 
on  these  west  coasts  of  America,  until  the  year  1775. 
Even  Viscayno  had  gone  no  farther  north  than  Cabrillo  in 
1642. 

When  we  remember  that  Lower  California  had  been 
discovered  in  1535,  by  the  same  commander,  Cortes,  who 
had  conquered  Mexico,  it  certainly  becomes  extraordinary 
that  a  coast  directly  continuous  with  California,  remained 
still  unknown,  two  hundred  and  thirty-five  years  afterwards. 

1{.930{) 


Oalifomia  and  the  Norlhwcst  Coast. 


It  can  hardly  be  said  that  the  question  was  settled  in  the 
minds  of  geographers  previous  to  1764,  whether  Califor- 
nia was  an  island  or  a  peninsula.  Purchas  upon  his  map 
of  1625,  has  engraved,  "  California  was  formerly  supposed 
to  be  a  part  of  the  continent,  but  now  is  known  to  bo  an 
island,"  and  he  carries  it  up  above  the  latitude  of  48°, 
making  it,  as  did  many  geographers,  1,700  leagues  long. 
Many  maps  in  the  New  York  State  Library,  of  aa  late 
date  as  1741,  represent  it  as  an  island,  as  those  of  Overton, 
Tillemon,  DeFer  and  others,  and  they  extend  California  up 
to  latitude  45°,  including  New  Albion.  Giustiniaiii's  atlas 
of  1755,  makes  California  an  island  reaching  to^atitude  47°. 
Engol  in  1764,  tries  to  prove  that  it  is  not  true  that  Cali- 
fornia, owing  to  the  winds  and  tides,  is  sometiniesapeninsulu 
and  at  other  times  an  island. 

One  hundred  years  since,  the  only  coast  of  the  conti- 
ents  of  the  world  that  had  not  been  delineated  with  more 
or  less  completeness,  excepting  in  the  Arctic  and  Antarctic 
regions,  was  that  of  the  north-west  coast  of  America  from 
lat.  35°  to  80°. 

The  Russians  under  Behring  in  1728  and  Tchirikow  in 
1741  in  successive  voyages,  had  discovered  points  of  land 
in  America,  and  on  the  archipelagos  of  islands.  Behring 
had  discovered  the  strait  that  bears  his  name,  but  the  dis- 
coverers were  still  ignorant  whether  what  we  now  call 
Alaska  belonged  to  America,  and  whether  the  lands  which 
they  had  discovered  were  islands,  a  new  continent,  or  the 
main  land  of  America.  As  late  ah  1754  it  was  denied  that 
Alaska  was  part  of  our  continent.  (Letter  of  a  Russian 
officer,  Dobbs).  Bellin  on  a  map  of  1755  observes,  "  not 
known  whether  the  Russian  discoveries  are  islands  or  con- 
tinents, as  they  did  not  touch  land." 

The  observations  of  Sir  Francis  Drake  in  1578  added  no 
knowledge  of  regions  north  of  43°,  but  he  gave  a  name  to 
a  portion  of  the  coast  which  he  saw  from  the  deck  of  his 


Qdifomia  am'  the  North-west  Coast. 


)w  in 
land 
iring 
dis- 
call 
hich 
r  the 
that 
sian 
"  not 
con- 
Id  no 
le  to 
hia 


ship  south  of  that  Uititudo,  calling  it  New  Alhion,  and 
entered  a  port  in  latitude  38°,  north  of  San  Francisco. 
Cabrillo  had  discovered  this  coast  before  him  in  1542  under 
the  orders  of  Gov.  Mendoza.  Finally  came  Viscayno's 
voyage  in  1602-3,  and  all  discovery  ceased  for  one  hundred 
and  sixty-five  years,  when  the  Spainards  in  1769  redis- 
covered Monterey. 

This  ignorance  of  the  western  coast  is  strongly  affirmed 
by  the  geographer  Delisle,  in  1755.    He  observes : 

"  The  part  of  the  southern  or  Pacific  ocean  to  the  north 
between  Japan  and  California  at  present  unknown  is  three 
thousand  and  six  hundred  miles  wide."  {Hist.  Ah.,  p.  11), 
Dobbs,  in  his  account  of  Hudson's  bay  (1744)  says,  "I  do 
not  find  that  any  countries  have  been  discovered  i>y  Euro- 
peans in  all  that  great  tract  between  California  and  Japan 
from  the  latitude  of  38°  to  the  Arctic  circle." 

And  in  the  same  sentiment,  Henrj'  Ellis,  writing  the 
preface  in  1748  to  the  voyage  of  the  ships  Dobbs  and  Cali- 
fornia says :  •'  there  lies  a  tract  of  country  making  part 
of  America  from  the  "Welcome  or  Ne  Ultra  to  cape  Blanco 
in  California,  that  is,  from  lat.  65°  to  43°  north,  taking  in 
22  degrees  of  latitude  and  no  less  than  thirty  in  longitude, 
having  an  extent  of  coast  upwards  of  six  hundred  leagues, 
the  coast  of  which  wholly  and  the  interior  parts  of  it  in 
a  great  measure  remain  unknown."  And  we  see  how 
mistaken  he  was  in  his  suppositions  as  to  the  extent  of 
this  ignorance,  seeing  that  the  continent  stretches  west 
more  than  sixty  degrees  of  longitude  instead  of  thirty  as 
he  supposed.  Dobbs  drew  his  map  four  years  before,  run- 
ning an  imaginary  coast,  starting  from  Hudson's  bay  lati- 
tude 63°  and  from  longitude  95°  directly  south-west  to  Cape 
Blanco  on  the  Pacific  in  longitude  35°,  leaving  room  or 
space  between  America  and  Asia  for  a  continent  larger 
than  New  Holland,  which  new  continent  would  on  his 
theory  embrace  the  Russian  discoveries  of  1741. 


6  California  and  the  Norlh-ioeat  Coast. 

The  reasons  tor  the  neglect  to  make  voyages  of  dis- 
covery to  complete  the  coast  outline  of  the  new  world, 
are  not  difficult  to  be  found,  notwithstanding  each  new 
discovery  liad  excited  the  admiration  and  had  been  a 
source  of  wealth  to  the  old  world.  Tho  principal  reasons 
are  the  following: 

First:  Spain,  the  only  nation  having  territory  on  the 
south  seas  or  Pacific,  was  fiutistied  with  the  abundant  ilow 
of  wealth  from  her  mines,  and  with  annually  dispatching 
ships  laden  with  silver  from  Acapulco  for  the  East  India 
trade  at  the  Piiilippines.  These  ships  almost  invariably 
followed  the  same  route,  sailing:  on  the  same  lines  of 
latitude,  rarely  north  of  15°.  And  they  feared  that  the 
extension  and  spread  of  the  news  of  discoveries  would 
create  for  themselves,  rivals  in  trade  among  the  other 
powers  of  Europe. 

Second :  The  vessels  of  other  powers  that  eutored  the 
Pacific,  went  as  buccaneers  or  privateers  or  for  trade,  and 
not  for  purposes  of  discovery;  such  were  the  voyages  of 
Drake,  Cavendish,  Shelvocko,  Van  Noort  and  Spilbergen 
and  the  successful  one  of  Anson  in  1743.  They  were  satis- 
tied  in  case  they  could  fall  upon  the  Spanish  galleons 
laden  with  silver.  Anson  watched  more  than  a  year  for 
the  one  which  he  captured  with  over  a  million  and  a  half 
of  dollars. 

Third:  After  the  discovery  of  the  passage  around  Cape 
Horn  which  was  mainly  favorable  to  the  Spaniards  and 
Portuguese,  the  English  and  Dutch  flattered  themselves 
with  the  hope  of  becoming  most  effectually  their  rivals, 
by  a  northern  passage  either  to  the  west  or  east.  They 
were  especially  sanguine  of  securing  a  passage  by  the 
west,  on  account  of  the  universal  persuasion  that  the  new 
continent  was  narrow  in  its  northern  parts;  and  they  de- 
voted themselves  for  centuries  to  securing  a  passage 
through  Baffin's  or  Hudson's  bays.     As  late  as  1748,  the 


»^ 


California  and  the  North-west  Coast. 


English  were  bnttlnsf  thoir  ships  nguinst  the  ice  in  the 
western  inlets  of  Hudson's  bay,  believing  that  they  should 
come  out  into  the  vast  Pacific  due  west  or  south-west, 
where  we  now  find  land  stretching  over  fifty  degrees  of 
longitude.  The  name  chosen  for  the  ■^ft'p  of  1749,  the 
Cdlifornia^  indicates  the  region  where  the  i^plorers  hoped 
to  emerge.  So  well  convinced  was  the  liritish  govern- 
ment that  the  passage  was  throng'  iludson's  bay,  that 
G  J  V  '.)obb8  secured,  at  this  late  period,  thar  £20,000  should 
be  voted  to  the  one  who  should  discover  u  passage  through 
Hudson's  bay  to  the  Pacific. 

While  master  Briggs,  as  mentioned  in  Purchas  (TTI,  p. 
851),  was  making  use  of  the  argument  of  the  narrowness 
of  the  continent  as  a  reason  why  the  English  should  per- 
sist in  making  voyages  by  the  north,  the  Spaniards  at  a 
very  early  period  got  out  maps,  on  which  the  coast  went 
steadily  north-west  by  west  from  California  for  eighty  de- 
grees of  longitude  to  the  fifty-fifth  degree  of  latitude,  for 
the  purpose  one  would  think  of  discouraging  their  rivals 
trom  the  attempts  they  were  making.  This  fact  appears 
plainly  from  the  current  maps  which  were  published  dur- 
ing the  seventeenth  century. 

Fourth:  The  English  trading  companies  and  those  of 
other  nations  concealed  their  own  acquired  knowledge  of 
the  country,  tmd  discouraged  rather  than  stimulated  all  at- 
tempts at  discovery,  except  what  they  made  for  themselves, 
80  as  to  secure  the  monopoly  of  the  trade  in  furs.  That 
this  allegation  is  true  is  manifest  T-om  the  writings  of 
Dobbs,  Middleton,  Ellis,  Barrow  and  others. 

Thus  much  we  state  concisely  as  the  reasons  t\)r  the 
long  continued  ignorance  of  the  north-west  coast. 

I  will  now  proceed  to  illustrate  this  ignorance  and  the 
extent  to  which  credulity  and  speculation  took  the  pliice 
of  information,  only  a  hundred  years  since,  by  exhibiting 


8 


California  and  the  North-west  Coast. 


the  geographical  views  of  Delisle,  in  1752,  and  ofEngelin 
1765. 

Joseph  Nicolas  Deliele,  a  member  of  the  French  Aca- 
demy, and  distinguished  as  a  geographer,  had  for  22  years 
lived  at  St.  Petersburg  as  Astronomer  of  the  government, 
and  had  accompanied  the  Russian  expedition  of  1741  which 
discovered  the  land  which  we  now  call  Alaska.  His  elder 
brother.  First  Geographer  of  the  king  of  France,  was  called 
the  "  creator  of  modern  geography,"  and  died  in  1720.  In 
1750  Joseph  Delisle  presented  to  the  French  Academy  a 
memoir  illustrated  with  maps  to  explain  after  his  rich  ex- 
perience, his  views  of  the  geography  of  North- Western 
America.  Several  editions  of  it  were  published.*  On  these, 
maps,  copies  of  which  are  in  the  State  Library,  he  has 
drawn :  First,  a  sea  of  the  west,  within  tl:e  interior  of  the 
continent,  six  hundred  leagues  in  circumference,  having 
on  its  shores  the  great  city  of  Quivira,  and  communicat- 
ing with  the  Pacific  ocean  at  two  points.  Second  and 
third,  two  series  of  straits  and  lakes  stretching  towards 
Hudson's  and  Baffin's  bays  from  the  Pacific,  running  north- 
east by  east.  Fourth,  the  straits  of  Anian,  communicating 
with  the  Arctic  ocean. 

Delisle  and  his  associate  Buaehe,  another  distinguished 
geographer  of  that  day,  defend  this  map,  by  arguments 
which  they  thought  convincing,  during  the  four  or  five 
following  years. 

The  first  novelty,  the  Sea  of  the  West,  he  was  led  to  h^- 
lieve  in  from  an  account  to  be  found  only  in  Purchas 
His  Pilgrimes  (HI,  849),  which  was  from  the  pen  of  one 


*  NouvoUcs  cartes  des  dt'couvertcs  de  I' Arairal  De  Ftmte,  et  antres  uaviga- 
teurs  Espasnols,  Portujjais,  Anglois,  HoUandois,  Framjols  ot  Russes  dans  los 
mors  septcntrionales,  avec  leur  exi)lication.  Par  M.  De  Lislo.  A  Paris,  1753, 
4to. 

Considtjrations  geojrraphiciucs  ot  pliyHiques  sur  les  nouvelhis  decouvertes 

Nord  de  la  jj^rande  luer du  Sud,  avoc  des  cartes  . .  .Par  P.  Buadip.    A 

Paris,  1753.    4to. 


QiUfornia  and  the  North-west  Coast. 


9 


Michael  Locke,  being  what  a  Greek  pilot,  Jean  De  Fuca, 
told  him  at  Venice  in  the  3'ear  1596.  De  Fuca  told  Locke 
that  when  he  was  in  the  Spanish  employment  in  the  Pacific 
Ocean  in  the  years  1592-3,  he  entered  into  the  North  or 
Arctic  sea  through  certain  straits  very  near  those  we  are 
now  agreed  to  call  Juan  De  Fuca's  straits,  and  found  him- 
self in  this  Sea  of  the  West,  the  size  of  which  he  gave 
very  indefinitely. 

Delisle's  brother  had  left  manuscript  maps  of  Western 
America  with  this  sea,  stretching  over  30  degrees  of  longi- 
tude, wh'ch  he  had  drawn  in  1697,  but  did  not  publish  till 
1718,  out  of  regard  to  the  interests  of  France  in  Canada. 
It  was  these  maps  which  had  led  Joseph  Delisle  to  re- 
study  the  subject.  They  both  believed  that  Hudson's  bay 
could  be  entered  iVom  this  sea.  Although  De  Fuca  is  now 
generally  regarded  as  a  fabulist,  still  his  Western  sea  re- 
mained on  maps  up  to  at  least  as  late  as  1780.  Tytler 
says  "  the  whole  voyage  of  De  Fuca  rests  upon  apocryphal 
authority." 

Notwithstanding  this  is  the  belief  at  present,  still  after 
the  discovery  of  a  strait  near  where  De  Fuca  had  assigned 
one,  his  name  became  affixed  to  it.  Delisle  made  a  most 
thorough  study  of  the  existence  of  this  sea  of  the  west, 
his  investigations  into  all  travels  and  voyages  were  most 
minute  and  he  attempted  a  most  painful  adjustment  of  it 
with  all  other  discoveries,  both  pretended  and  real.  What 
acuteness  of  judgment  would  have  been  ascribed  to  him,  if 
his  elaborate  reasonings,  instead  of  having  been  confuted 
with  the  lapse  of  time,  had  been  authenticated.  He  had 
studied  Marquette,  Hennepin,  the  Jesuit  relations  of  New 
France,  and  every  available  source  of  information.  The 
southern  strait  of  entrance,  Delisle  derived  from  an  account 
in  Viscayno's  voyage  of  an  entrance  into  thisseaiii  latitude 
48°.  Coxe  in  his  Carolana  (1699)  had  said  that  he  had  dis- 
covered a  west  sea  several  thousand  miles  in  circumference. 


10 


California  and  the  North-west  Coast. 


The  second  and  third  of  these  novelties  the  straits  we 
have  mentioned  running  N.N.E,  were  mapped  out  by 
Delisle  from  the  descriptions  contained  in  a  printed  account 
in  English  of  a  voyage  by  a  Spanish  admiral  in  1640. 
This  account  had  first  been  published  in  1708,  in  a  peri- 
odical called  the  Monthly  Miscellany,  or  Memoirs  for  the 
Curious.  Admiral  De  Fonte  in  this  narration  tells  his 
own  story :  He  narrates  that  in  the  year  1647  he  sailed 
from  Callao  in  Peru,  accompanied  by  Capt.  Bernardo  in 
a  second  ship,  under  orders  to  intercept  ships  from  Boston 
in  N.E.,  which  were  in  search  of  a  north-v/est  passage, 
and  that  at  latitude  53°,  Bernardo  left  time  and  traced 
the  coast  still  farther  north.  Bernardo  in  latitude  61°  as- 
cended a  river  to  79°,  whence  one  of  his  men  went  near  to 
the  head  of  Davis's  strait  and  found  there  was  no  passage 
by  water.  When  he  rejoined  De  Fonte,  the  latter  had  re- 
turned from  his  extraordinary  voyage  through  straits  and 
lakes  to  the  town  of  Conasset:  where  leaving  his  ship, 
and  ascending  a  river  near  Hudson's  bay,  he  came  to  a 
ship  from  Boston,  Capt.  Shapley,  and  conversed  with  him 
and  its  owner,  Mr.  Seymour  Gibbons.  This  ship  was  trad- 
ing for  skins  in  a  port  of  Hudson's  bay.'  The  Admiral's 
conclusions  were  that  there  was  no  water  communication 
to  either  of  these  bays,  and  he  returned  home  with  this 
report.  This  Boston  ship  must  have  left  Boston  within 
ten  years  from  the  founding  of  the  Massachusetts  colony. 
The  names  of  Shapley  and  Gibbons  were  Boston  names. 

This  alleged  voyage  of  De  Fonte  in  1640  was  so  well 
accredited,  thatDobbs  made  it  the  basis  of  an  argument  in 
1744  tothe  British  governmentfor  the  certainty  of  apassage 
west  through  Hudson's  bay :  Ellis  sustained  it  in  1748, 


'  This  voyage  from  Boston  is  not  the  only  one  spoken  of  from  indejK'ndent 
authority  ;  for  at  about  the  same  period,  (Ellis  p.  71)  Jercmio  speaks  of  an- 
other ship's  crew  from  Boston  liaviu);  bcscn  met  witli,  whom  some  inferred 
might  have  been  tliose  sixjken  of  Ijy  De  Fonte. 


California  and  the  North-u  3st  Coast. 


11 


and  it  waa  extensively  believed  in  England  up  to  1776. 
Delisle's  maps  of  1750-55  were  constructed  on  the  theory 
of  the  voyage  having  been  a  reality.  Lacroix  in  1773  de- 
fends the  truth  of  the  account.  As  late  as  1792,  the 
Spaniards  sent  a  ship  to  discover  the  Rio  del  Reys,  the  only 
authority  for  which  was  De  Fonte's  voyage. 

While  the  credit  which  was  given  to  this  voyage  of  De 
Fonte  by  leading  French  and  English  geographers  may 
astonish  us,  we  must  remember  the  intensity  of  interest  by 
which  it  was  stimulated,  the  desire  to  find  a  rapid  pas- 
sage to  India  by  a  northern  route.  On  further  investi- 
gations, pursued  by  a  rival  French  geographer,  Robert  De 
Vaugondy  and  others,'  it  was  pretty  clearly  estuolished 
that  although  there  were  De  Fontes  or  De  Fuentes  in 
Chili  and  Peru,  yet  there  never  was  a  Spanish  or  Portu- 
guese admiral  of  the  name  of  De  Fonte,  and  that  the  re- 
cords of  Mexico  and  Spain  contained  no  account  of  a  similar 
voyage  having  ever  been  performed  at  any  period.  It  was 
further  established  that  there  was  no  Spanish  original  manu- 
script, and  that  the  account  of  the  voyage  in  the  English 
magazine  of  1708  was  a  jeu  d'esprit  of  the  editor,  Mr.  Pe- 
tiver,  who  was  disposed  to  write  a  moon  story  on  the  most 
interesting  theme  of  the  day,  i.  e  the  remaining  undis- 
covered limits  of  the  New  World.  And  perhaps  he  hoped 
by  showing  from  pretended  Spanish  sources  almost  the  cer- 
tainty of  water  communication  from  Hudson's  bay  to  the 
Pacific,  notwithstanding  the  Spaniards  affirmed  that  there 
was  no  passage,  to  induce  farther  voyages  to  Hudson's 
bay  for  exploration. 

The  fourth  of  the  geographical  legends  sustained  by  De- 
lisle  and  Buache  in  their  maps  was  the  traditional  straits 


'Observations  critiques  sur  les  nouvclles  decouvertes  de  I'Admiral  Do  La 
Fin  ..  :.  Par  M.  Robert  de  Vaugondy,  fils.,  Geog.  ordinaire  duRoi.  Paris, 
17.%.     \2\ 


12 


California  and  the  Aorth-west  Coast. 


of  Anian.  It  was  a  strait  believed  to  be  a  passage  by  the 
north  from  east  to  west,  commencing  in  from  fifty-five  to 
sixty  degrees  of  latitude.  Cortereal  had  named  it  in  the 
year  1500  :  Ladriliero  in  1504,  M.  Chack  in  1579,  and 
Maldonado  in  1598,  all  pretended  to  have  entered  those 
straits.  Maldonado  says  that  he  sailed  through  it  and 
back  again.  De  Fuca  thought  his  straits  were  those  of 
Anian.  Viscayno  had  been  sent  in  1602  to  discover  them. 
Drake  said  that  he  had  discovered  them.  Maldonado's 
account  which  was  the  most  detailed  turned  out  to  be  sheer 
invention.  Even  after  Behring's  straits  had  been  disco- 
vered, (Alaska  being  supposed  to  be  an  island  and  our 
continent  narrow  on  the  north),  the  straits  of  Anian  were 
still  searched  lor  :  and  it  was  inferred  that  Bernardo's  orDe 
Fonte's  straits  must  be  those  of  Anian.  The  discoveries 
of  the  Russians  were  supposed  to  confirm  the  statements  of 
De  Fonte.  And  even  after  the  discoveries  of  Capt.  Cook, 
and  as  late  as  1791,  the  straits  of  Anian  were  sought  tor 
by  the  Spaniards  under  Malaspina. 

Torquemada  in  his  Monarquia  Indiana  (liv.  v,  cap.  45), 
says  that  Philip  II  of  Spain  had  determined  to  discover 
the  coasts  of  California,  because  certain  foreigr^srs  had 
reported  that  they  had  passed  by  the  north-west  passage  to 
the  South  sea  by  the  straits  of  Anian,  where  they  had  seen 
a  great  town,  and  therefore  Viscayno  was  sent  on  the 
enterprise. 

The  final  conclusion  must  be,  that  although  we  have  in 
Behring's  straits,  that  which  responds  to  the  idea  of  a  water 
communication  to  the  Arctic  ocean,  yet  that  all  the  pre- 
tended straits  of  Anian,  were  delusions  of  navigators  or 
inventions  of  others. 

Ten  years  after  Delisle,  in  1765,only  one  hundred  and  five 
years  since,  Engel,  the  Swiss  geographer,  published  a  vol  ume 
containing  his  studies  on  Western  geography,  accompanied 


California,  and  the  North-west  Coast. 


13 


with  maps,  upon  which  were  delineated  his  ideas  of  the 
mountains  and  rivers  of  the  interior  and  of  the  coast.*  He 
rejected  the  notion  of  the  truth  of  De  Fonte's  voyage,  of  the 
sea  of  the  west,  and  of  De  Fuca's  strait,  and  preferred 
generally  the  data  given  in  the  Spanish  maps  of  the  earliest 
period.  These,  the  Dutch  and  English  geographers  had, 
with  good  reason,  little  hy  little  disregarded  in  their  maps, 
or  had  given  undue  preference  to  the  account  of  some  one 
of  the  navigators.  In  accordance  with  his  theory,  Engel 
between  35  and  40°  of  latitude  stretches  our  west- 
ern coast  through  25°  of  longitude  to  the  west,  instead 
of  less  than  five,  as  is  the  real  fact ;  and  draws  five 
rivers  running  due  west  to  the  Pacific  from  the  interior, 
between  36  and  48°  north  latitude,  one  of  them  flowing 
over  50  degrees  of  longitude. 

The  results  of  Engel's  studies,  when  compared  with  our 
present  knowledge,  show  that  as  little  value  was  to  be 
attached  to  the  Spanish  maps  as  to  his  own  speculations. 
They  were  all  alike  constructed  from  unreliable  data  as 
regards  the  north-west  coast  in  almost  every  particular. 

Maps  published  in  London  as  late  as  1775,  (Sayer  & 
Bennett's),  adopt  Engel's  views  in  part,  and  a  river  is  re- 
presented as  flowing  into  the  Pacific  in  latitude  45°  due 
west,  out  of  Lake  Winnipeg.  These  maps  trace  some- 
times an  imaginary  north-west  coast,  but  only  refer  to  De 
Fonte,  De  Fuca,  Chinese  or  Japanese  maps  for  their  au- 
thority. Some  maps  of  this  date  treat  the  coast  as  unknown 
north  of  43°,  and  leave  an  absolute  blank  from  that  point. 

We  have  thus  followed  the  discoveries  of  the  North 
West  coast  up  to  one  hundred  years  since.  And  one  hun- 
dred years  since  commenced  the  re-discovery  by  the  Span- 
iards of  Upper  California.     An  ecclesiastico-military  expe- 


'MiMnoires  et  Observations  goograpliiques  et  critiques  sur  la  sitnatioa 
do8  pays  soptontrionaux  dol'Asio  et  de  rAinerique.     Lausanne,  1765.  4to. 


14 


California  and  the  North-ioest  Coast. 


\ 


dition  came  by  land  from  Lower  California,  and  established 
itself  at  San  Diego  on  the  first  day  of  July,  1769,  making 
the  first  historic  day  for  California.  Montferey  was  re-dis- 
covered May  31,  1770,  not  having  been  seen  since  1603  by 
Viscayno.  San  Francisco  was  re-discovered  by  land,  in 
177<,,  made  a  mission  in  1775,  and  a  presidio  in  1776.  The 
harbor  was  entered  by  water  for  the  first  time  in  1775 
(Randolph,  p.  22,  33).  These  proceedings  caused  great 
rejoicings  and  ringing  of  bells  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  and 
at  Madrid. 

The  final  general  outline  of  our  North-West  coast  was 
not  made  till  ninety  years  since,  in  Capt.  Cook's  great  but 
fatal  third  voyage.  From  Drake's  time  to  Cook,  no  English 
flag  had  gone  north  of  43°.  Simultaneously  with  our 
revolutionary  war,  under  instructions  from  the  Admiralty 
to  survey  that  coast  for  the  purpose  of  finding  a  northern 
passage  to  the  east,  and  to  discover  the  limits  of  the  con- 
tinent. Cook  left  Plymouth  in  July,  1776,  and  reached  lat. 
44°  33'  in  March,  1778.  It  is  not  impossible  that  the 
ideas  prevalent  during  the  twenty-five  preceding  years, 
both  of  the  narrowness  of  the  continent  and  of  numerous 
channels  and  rivers  from  the  west,  led  the  British  govern- 
ment to  surmise  that  their  rebellious  colonists  might  with 
advantage  be  attacked  from  the  rear  as  well  as  the  front, 
or  at  least  might  be  prevented  from  settling  remote  from 
her  vengeance. 

After  Cook  reached  New  Albion,  the  outline  of  the  coast, 
as  high  as  latitude  70°,  was  for  the  first  time  seen  by  a 
European,  and  surveytJ  with  an  accuracy  that  with  the 
instruments  of  former  navigators  would  not  have  been 
possible.  "  He  eficcted  more  in  a  single  season  than  the 
Spaniards  had  accomplished  in  two  centuries,  though  he 
passed  De  Fuca's  straits  without  seeing  them."  D'UrvilJe, 
the  French  navigator,  declares  that  he  was  the  founder  of 


California  and  the  North-west  Coast. 


16 


the  true  geography  of  the  Pacific  ocean :  and  to  him  wo 
are  indebted  for  the  destruction  of  the  geographical  fi^ctions 
80  readily  embraced  by  many  preceding  geographcrH. 

While  Cook  was  preparing  for  his  voyage,  the  viceroy 
of  New  Spain  sent  out  un  expedition  for  the  same  purpose 
uuderBruno  Heceta,  Juan  de  Ayala  and  luan  de  la  Bodega 
y  Quadra,  in  1775.  The  account  of  this  expedition  was 
written  by  Maurelle  the  pilot  of  one  of  the  vessels.  Mau- 
relle  went  as  far  north  as  57°,  and  he  obtained  a  tolerable 
outline  of  the  coast  to  that  point,  and  sent  home  a  note  of 
alarm  regarding  the  progress  of  Russian  settlement. 
Maurelle  had  no  better  charts  than  the  conjectural  ones  of 
the  French,  such  as  Bellin's  of  1766,  and  he  was  on  the 
look  out  fur  DeFonte's  pretended  straits,  which  were  in  full 
faith  still  retained  upon  those  charts.  In  1779,  another 
Spanish  expedition,  accompanied  also  by  Maurelle,  and 
Be  la  Bodega  y  Quadra,  was  sent  over  the  same  track, 
apparently  unconscious  that  Cook  had  preceded  them 
during  1778.     This  voyage  went  no  farther  north  than  59°. 

In  1774  and  1755,  Perez  and  Martinez,  under  the  Span- 
ish flag,  anchored  at  Nootka  sound  and  sailed  as  far  as  58°. 

The  discoveries  of  Capt.  Cook  were  not  published  until 
1784.  They  produced  a  great  excitement  in  favor  of  free 
trade  in  furs,  hitherto  a  monopoly  of  fur  companies;  and 
the  rivalry  for  this  trade  led  to  numerous  voyages  of  ships 
of  all  nations.  The  most  prominent  of  these  were  those 
of  Portlock  and  Dixon  in  1786  and  1787,  chiefly  for  the 
purpose  of  trading  in  furs :  when  a  detour  for  discovery 
was  made,  it  was  for  the  sake  of  finding  new  regions  to 
buy  furs  of  the  natives.  Dixon  chronicles  our  still  exist- 
ing ignorance  of  the  continent  by  the  observation,  that  "  so 
imperfectly  do  we  know  the  coast  that  it  is  in  some  mea- 
sure to  be  doubted  whether  we  have  yet  seen  the  main 
land ;  whether  any  land  we  have  been  near  is  really  the 


'a^vLmiSPn 


16 


California  and  the  North-west  Coast. 


continent,  remains  to  be  determined  by  future  navigators." 
But  he  adds  "  the  fur  trade  is  inexhaustible." 

Meares,  a  mercantile  voyager,  in  1786,  was  the  first 
European  who  had  wintered  on  the  coast  north  of  San 
Francisco,  making  it  an  event  of  historic  im{»ortance.  He 
was  a  believer  in  De  Fonte's  and  De  Fuca's  voyages  as 
authentic. 

The  next  discoverer  was,  as  was  proper,  an  At  <  ,'iean, 
sailing  under  ship's  papers  given  by  the  old  Confederation 
in  1787.  Capt.  Gray,  of  Boston,  on  his  second  voyage, 
discovered  the  Columbia  river,  in  1792,  and  by  right  of 
discovery,  then  the  law  of  nations,  secured  that  outlet  on 
the  coast  to  the  United  States.  He  discovered  Bulfinch's 
harbor,  the  only  one  for  seven  hundred  miles,  discovered 
Queen  Charlotte's  to  be  an  island,  and  revealed  De  Fuca's 
straits  to  Vancouver,  and  for  the  first  time  carried  the 
United  States  flag  around  the  world.  La  Perouse  had 
discovered  the  archipelago  of  Queen  Charlotte's  in  1786. 

Notwithstanding  the  discoveries  of  Capts.  Cook  and 
Gray,  the  results  of  the  fabulous  voyages  of  De  Fonte,  De 
Fuca  and  others  were  retained  on  maps  till  within  eighty 
years,  and  they  were  not  overthrown,  and  the  veritable 
continent  defined  in  its  western  limits  until  the  memorable 
voyage  of  Vancouver  was  completed  in  1794. 

Vancouver  met  with  Capt.  Gray  on  the  coast  to  the 
great  surprise  of  the  former,  and  profited  by  the  commu- 
nications made  to  him.  He  surveyed  and  defined  Van- 
couver's island  and  its  archipelago,  and  visited  in  all  nine 
thousand  miles  of  coast.    , 

It  was  only  after  the  results  of  his  discoveries  were 
published  that  it  could  be  said  that  we  had  a  tolera- 
bly correct  map  of  the  north-west  coast.  And  yet  absurd 
as  it  may  seem,  as  late  as  1794,  Vancouver  was  in  the 
hope,  according  to  his  instructions,  of  finding  a  river  by 


ti:i, 


California  and  the  North-west  Coast, 


17 


which  he  could  reach  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  which  is  iu 
latitude  49°  and  longitude  95°,  and  writes  of  it  as  an  im- 
portant fact  he  had  substantiated  that  there  was  no  navi- 
able  passage  to  the  east  from  latitude  30°  to  50°.  Capt. 
Houdt'ick,  an  American,  in  1789  went  around  Vancouver's 
island. 

While  it  is  within  eighty  years  since  we  have  learned 
what  is  the  coast  outline  of  our  continent,  it  is  not  till 
within  a  period  less  than  half  of  that,  that  we  have  become 
acquainted  with  the  outlines  of  its  interior  geography. 
The  continent  a  hundred  years  since  had  never  been  tra- 
versed by  a  European,  north  of  Mexico;  nor  in  Mexico, 
north  of  the  gulf  of  California.  Delisle's  map  of  1785  has 
in  an  imniense  blank  space  the  record:  "the  whole  inte- 
rior is  unknown," 

The  plan  of  Jonathan  Carver  of  Connecticut  for  cross- 
ing from  ocean  to  ocean  in  1772  had  failed.  His  scheme 
was  to  have  a  military  post  established  at  the  straits  of 
Anian  near  Oregon.  His  map  of  1778  contains  a  deline- 
ation of  the  sea  of  the  west,  the  straits  of  Anian  and  of 
De  Fuca,  now  fables  of  the  past. 

John  Ledyard,  also  of  Connecticut,  in  1786,  persevered 
in  a  scheme,  in  which  he  was  aided  by  Jefferson,  to  tra- 
verse the  American  continent  by  entering  it  from  Russia; 
but  was  hindered  from  accomplishing  it,  owing  to  his  im- 
prisonment by  the  Russians. 

Samuel  Hearne  of  London,  in  1772,  by  his  journey  of 
thirteen  hundred  miles  from  Fort  Prince  of  Wales  in  lati- 
tude 60°  to  the  Coppermine  river,  established  the  fact  that 
the  continent  did  not  extend  to  the  North  pole. 

Alexander  McKenzie  in  his  first  journey  westward  in 
1789,  reached  only  the  Arctic  ocean,  but  farther  west 
than  Hearne,  to  the  river  still  called  after  his  name  as  dis- 
coverer.    In  his  second  journey  in  1793,  he  was  the  first 


. 


18 


California  and  the  North-west  Coast. 


Enropcnn  to  cross  the  continent  on  the  north,  and  in  its 
broiidest  part,  latitude  52°  20'.  Ho  had  started  also  from 
the  same  fort  on  Hudson's  bay,  from  which  Hearne  had 
proceeded.  The  British  had  no  trading  or  military  posts 
M'est  of  the  Rocky  mountains  previous  to  the  year  1806. 

A  map  of  Mexico  of  Humboldt's,  bearing  date  of  the  year 
1811,  designates  the  whole  of  the  western  territory  of  the 
',  United  States  as  "  unknown." 

\  In  concluding  this  representation  of  our  ignorance  of 

California  and  the  north-west  coast  until  a  comparatively 
very  recent  period,  I  will  simply  enumerate  very  briefly 
the  prominent  American  exploring  tours  of  the  present 
century,  by  means  of  which  this  ignorance  has  been  re- 
moved, and  the  country  opened  for  settlement. 

It  was  not  until  1804,  the  continuous  chain  of  the  Rocky 
mountains  being  as  yet  untraversed,  and  it  still  being 
possible  that  an  iidand  sea  existed  larger  than  Lake  Supe- 
rior, that  the  continent  was  traversed  by  explorers  through 
the  territory  of  the  United  States.  The  expedition  of  our 
government,  for  which  so  much  credit  is  due  to  Jefferson, 
was  commanded  by  Lewis  and  Clark,  and  went  down  the 
Columbia  river  to  its  mouth.  Their  full  narrative  was  not 
published  till  1814,  and  down  to  1844  was  the  principal 
source  of  information  regarding  the  interior. 

Major  Zebulon  Pike's  expedition  in  1805  to  1807,  was  to 
find  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi,  and  of  the  Arkansas, 
Kansas  and  Platte  rivers. 

Hunt's  expedition  of  1811  was  to  found  the  settlement 
of  AstDria  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  river.  This  settle- 
ment was  shortly  after  abandoned  by  the  American  interest, 
owing  to  the  war  with  Great  Britain. 

Major  S.  H.  Long's  expedition  in  1819  and  1820,  was  up 
the  Platte  to  the  Rocky  mountains,  and  back  by  way  oi 
the  Arkansas  river. 


California  and  the  North-west  Coast, 


19 


Schoolcraft  and  Cass's  expeditions  in  1820  and  1832, 
were  for  the  discovery  of  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  to  visit  the  copper  deposits  of  Lake  Superior. 

Fremont's  expedition  to  Oregon  and  California,  in  1843 
and  1844,  made  a  virtual  discovery  of  Great  Salt  lake,  of 
the  basin  of  California,  and  established  that  there  was  no 
principal  river  flowing  into  the  Pacific  besides  the  Co- 
lumbia. 

The  magnificent  series  of  explorations  of  the  United 
States  government  for  a  Pacific  rail  road  route  across  the 
continent,  on  eight  parallels  of  latitude,  were  as  late  as 
1853  and  1854. 

'No  permanent  settlements  were  made  by  us  west  of  the 
Rocky  mountains  previous  to  1834,  being  those  which  were 
commenced  in  Oregon. 

It  was  in  1827,  that  the  first  American  entered  Cali- 
fornia across  the  continent.  lie  was  an  agent  of  the 
American  Fur  Company  by  the  name  of  Jedidiah  S.  '^naith. 
Finding  himself  in  want,  he  resorted  to  misrepresentation, 
80  as  to  secure  protection  and  food  from  the  jealous  Span- 
ish settlers.  He  and  his  party  of  forty  men  were  already 
gold  hunters  rather  than  fur  hunters.* 

The  future  of  California,  its  wealth,  population  and 
prosperity,  either  under  Spaniards  or  Americans,  was  as  yet 
anticipated  or  prophesied  by  no  one.  Two  years  before 
the  discovery  of  gold,  a  writer  in  the  Southern  Quarterly 
BevieWy'  predicts  for  her  a  future  of  the  greatest  inferiority. 
"Whether  California  will  everbecome  of  any  great  import- 
ance in  the  history  of  the  world,  or  advance  to  any  con- 
spicuous position,  agriculturally,  commercially,  or  po- 
litically, is  susceptible  of  the  greatest  doubt.    In  itself,  it 


*  E.  Randolph's  Address,  1860,  San  Francisco. 
"Vol.  VIII,  1845. 


20 


Calif ornia  and  the  Nurth-widt  Coast, 


has  little  proHjJoet  beyoiul  u  iiorvelcHH  imbecility."  Such 
were  the  i>revairni<^  aiitiiipationH  only  twenty-five  years 
gince,  reyurdin^^  the  dcHtiny  ol' the  countries  on  the  shores 
of  the  Pacitie. 

It  will  always  be  a  theme  for  wonder  that  by  the  pro- 
gress of  the  arts  and  sciences  within  this  one  hundred 
years,  the  shortest  route  from  Europe  to  China  and  Japan, 
to  Cathay  and  India,  has  been  found  not  in  a  passage  by 
sea  to  the  north  of  the  continent,  but  by  means  of  steam- 
cars  on  an  iron  road,  through  the  territory  of  a  people,  not 
then  having  an  indopctulent  existence,  and  now  liaving 
more  than  five  milli<  is  of  inhabitants  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. 


t 


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